I am the founder and CEO of GirlQuake and the author of the Forbes book “Their Roaring Thirties: Brutally Honest Career Talk From Women Who Beat The Youth Trap.” I was at start-up, speed-up and stay #1 companies in both digital and traditional media, and the executive producer of the inaugural Forbes Women’s Summit. I serve on the boards of female-led organizations and I’m on numerous “people to watch” lists including 21 Leaders For The 21st Century and 40 Women To Watch Over 40. To learn more about me, follow me @deniserestauri.

A Teen Feminist Gives New Meaning To 'A Little F'd Up'

If you Google “A Little F’d Up” you will find 19-year-old Julie Zeilinger. Julie is the founder of the FBomb (FBomb.org) and author of the new book A Little F’d Up: Why Feminism Is Not A Dirty Word.

Julie is a freshman at Barnard College at Columbia University. She’s a teen writing about things that actually matter. She’s smart, sassy and clever. About the FBomb in her words:

The FBomb.org is a blog/community created by and for teenage girls who care about their rights as women and want to be heard.

In this case the “F Bomb” stands for “feminist.” However, it also pokes fun at the idea that the term “feminist” is so stigmatized – our way of proudly reclaiming the word. The fact that the “F Bomb” usually refers to a certain swear word in popular culture is also not coincidental. The FBomb.org is for girls who have enough social awareness to be angry and who want to verbalize that feeling. The FBomb.org is loud, proud, sarcastic…everything teenage feminists are today.

The FBomb covers a wide range of topics based on real life experiences that make girls feel powerful and powerless. Everything from forced child marriage, pop culture, hate crimes, body image, relationships (Chicks Before Dicks), college life (A Feminist Rushes A Sorority) and girls in media (Strong Women in Fiction Shouldn’t be Novelties).

A Little F’d Up takes the online conversation to print. It’s the book that debunks myths about today’s youth, the first book about feminism for young women in their teens and twenties to be written by a teen. Like the FBomb, it’s real, witty, bold and provides reasons to rally behind feminism. A sneak peek into the book, Part 1: The Badasses Who Came Before Us, Julie gives three major reasons why she thinks it’s important to understand the history of women who came before her generation.

Reason #1: Our generation desperately needs some perspective.

No, seriously. If I hear one more girl wonder aloud if Roe vs. Wade was a boxing match that was recently televised by ESPN, I’m going to freakin’ rip my hair out. Our ignorance is embarrassing and insulting and will only hurt us in the long run. We need to get our shit together.

Hillary Clinton said: I wasn’t born a first lady or a senator. I wasn’t born a Democrat. I wasn’t born a wife or mother.” Julie may not have been born a feminist, but look out world – she’s dropping the FBomb. Here’s her story:

1) What inspired the FBomb and how old were you?

I started the FBomb the summer after my sophomore year of high school, but I had become interested in feminism a couple years before that in middle school. Everybody in my middle school was required to give a speech in order to graduate, and through my research for that speech I came across the world of women’s rights, global misogyny and feminism. I was completely blown away by all of the atrocities happening to women across the world and in my own backyard, and began to align myself with the fight for women’s rights and feminism. I started reading feminist blogs like Feministing and Jezebel at the beginning of high school and, although I loved them, I wondered why there wasn’t a similar space for high school and college-aged feminists. I felt there was a need for a blog and community for young feminists, so I decided to start one.

2) When I was writing my post about the media’s assault on Ashley Judd’s “puffy” appearance, I sent you an email: “We know what adults are saying, but what does this mean to a young woman – what is your take?” During a 45-minute break between classes, you penned a 700-word essay that was intelligent and thoughtful – amazing. Ashley Judd tweeted: “A must-read by a college student…” You didn’t have time to plan – it was your “head to paper” response. Where did your thoughts and inspiration come from?

I had actually read Ashley Judd’s Daily Beast piece the night before, so I had definitely been thinking about it. Like I said in my article, I had been waiting to read a piece like that for some time so my response to it came easily. I really believe that — whether it’s “right” or not — celebrities have a lot of power in terms of their ability to bring light to certain issues, especially amongst young women. I can’t remember any celebrity before Ashley Judd so explicitly condemning the media for their treatment of her and of all women in terms of the way they look, and I think it strongly impacted all young women who read it. I really hope her words encourage more celebrities to come out and share similar sentiments.

3) Why is it great to be a girl today?

I think it’s great to be a girl today for a lot of reasons — many due to the hard work of previous generations of feminists. Even compared to a few decades ago, young women today have so many options open to us — educationally, career-wise, etc. While we still have a long way to go in terms of representation in leadership positions, we do have role models to look up to, like Hillary Clinton and Sheryl Sandberg. My generation is so lucky that there have been amazing women before us who, if they haven’t totally broken the glass ceiling, have definitely made some major cracks. I also think that, in general, women have a kind of emotional freedom that men today still don’t. Women are able to have relationships with other women that would largely be seen as unacceptable between men, which is really unfortunate. I think that that disparity is actually one of the biggest reasons men need feminism, too.

4) You are a freshman at Barnard College at Columbia University and you vowed to major in “Unafraid” this year. What are your 3 tips on how everyone, even adults, can major in “Unafraid?”

That term is actually a reference to author and Barnard alum Anna Quindlen, who once said that she majored in “Unafraid” at Barnard. It was a concept that really resonated with me, especially considering that in high school I always felt out of place. When I started college, I really wanted to do everything I could to make it a fulfilling experience. Here are my tips:

– Lean into discomfort: Instead of staying in my comfort zone, I consciously tried to push myself into situations that were out of character for me. For example, I never for a second thought that I’d join a sorority in college, and yet this past semester I rushed and it has been a really great experience so far. I’m trying to rid myself of any preconceived notions that I have in order to open myself up to all types of new experiences that I can learn and grow from.

– It’s all about balance: I go to a really academically rigorous college, and I’m surrounded by incredibly smart and motivated people. It’s really easy to (and in some ways necessary to) study all the time here and it took me a little while to realize that I couldn’t let myself spend my entire college experience in a library when I was finally living somewhere as amazing as New York City. I realized that, as a really academic person, I had to let go of my perfectionist tendencies a little bit (which was kind of scary for me) in order to have a more well-rounded experience.

– Always stay true to who you are: This may be cheesy, but when put into a totally new environment and stage of life, it can be easy to try to morph to fit the situation. I believe growing as a person doesn’t mean that you have to fundamentally change, and I always try to stick to my core values and beliefs no matter what.

5) You have a website and a book. What’s the future of the FBomb and how will that impact the future of girls?

I only hope that the FBomb continues to grow and that more and more young women continue to read it, write for it and learn from each other. Ideally, I hope the FBomb — as well as the other blogs out there for young feminists and other young feminist leaders — keeps the feminist fire alive. I hope we’re able to show our peers that feminism is not only not dead but it is very much alive and very much needed.

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Feminism is a growing problem? I think that depends on the definition of feminism. I echo what Jessica Valenti says in the book’s forward: “In a time when the very definition of feminism is up for grabs, when people who are feminists won’t identify as such and people who are most definitely not feminists are trying to steal the language of the movement, we need a voice that gets past the bullshit. A clear, strong, young voice that lets people know what feminism is actually about.” Julie is starting a new conversation about feminism – a conversation that can lead to growth and action.

I do not understand whom you are exactly referring to when you say “people who are most definitely not feminists are trying to steal the language of the movement.” Gloria Steinem for example said that “you can’t be a feminist when you say other women can’t have an abortion.” Does that mean that those socially conservative women cannot be feminists?

Another three year old that is going to tell it like it is. Feminism, when desconstructed breaks down to Marksist/Communist ideology. Feminism is an ideology of misandry. It needs to be fought like the enemy it is, to the absolute end. Anywhere men seem to be enjoying themselves, or are accused of having any perceived advantage, feminist feel it must be destroyed.

Concerning Ashley Judd’s lies. When asked if she surprised that so many women made fun of her puffy face?” She could have said “Yeh women can be brutal to each other, but that is what they said, nobodies fault but there own.” “Makes me sad to see how mean women can be to each other today.” But instead she said, “well the patriarchy made them do it.”‘ Implying no woman can think for themselves, and that they are too stupid to escape the influence of the Patriarchy.” That is unless it fits into the feminist ideology. If the patriarchy ( imaginary) exists then why don’t men use it to stomp out these bitches?” The answer is obvious.

But just to be sure, I took my three year old nephew and beat the hell out of him. Listen, ” You are the patriarchy john, you are a bad boy, just for being born.” “ You will grow up to be a bad man and a rapist.” It is because of people like you John, that these poor women are held back.” John doesn’t like to come see me anymore, can’t figure out why?

Women have achieved everything they have blackmailed and threatened men for. Everything. There is no vocation that is not open to women. No double standard that women will not claim. No lie they won’t tell. And now that men are having trouble in college, I am sure the “Fair and equal” crowd will be out to help out. They would rather eat your brain, then help any man. Feminism is the worse threat this country faces. The destuction of the family unit ( something Stalin said must be done, to enable the state to own childrens minds), is complete. Here is a pursuit. Try to find one thing a feminist leader has said good about men. Or that women could do to help men .Try. They don’t offer solutions.

If you want some real entertainment read some of Cathy Morgans quotes. Make no mistake about it , this social construct that these marksist have achieved is for wome and by women. Women’s gender study classes ( better known “how to hate men and make it law.”) are taught by self avowed lesbians, and go unchalleged.

The latest feminist tactic is to try and tell men feminism is good for men. Sure it is great to be part of the priveleged elitest group . Classes just for women. Double standards in the military , police, firemen and the draft. No punishment for false rape claims. Of if they kick men in the balls, and slap them in the face. (But only white men.)

One last point: Germain Greer said while speaking in england, that ” If a father allows his daughter to kiss him goodnight on the cheek, that he is sexually objectifying her.” And added that if the british army were allowed to fight in libya , they would just rape women. If that doesn’t piss you off, your dead.

She has no idea what it is like in other countries, stapling american privilege in a situation where it literally can not be afforded will lead to children starving. And the most hilarious part, is that western countries, even with all their supposed morals forced many of those countries into those positions. But she doesn’t complain about that, which would guarantee freedom for all if solved. She merely cares about the woman’s situation. In the middle east, kuwait citizens get hundreds of thousands a year while immigrants and other undesirables are treated like slaves, and in most countries, not only does a woman keep money she makes at a job instead of applying it towards her family, men are expected to apply all of it, and she is displacing another man out of a job. It is another world, attempting to implement this will lead to more children dying in the streets. Time to see the big picture, not just the propaganda fueled american one.